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Dessert

May Friedl

A sweet cake made with butter, sugar, lemon, milk, flour, baking powder, eggs, and coconut.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

May Friedl

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cake batter

  1. Cream one-half cup butter.

  2. Gradually add one and one-half cups granulated sugar.

  3. Add one teaspoon lemon juice.

  4. Add grated rind of one-half lemon.

  5. Add one cup milk alternately with two cups sifted flour.

  6. Add one-fourth cup flour sifted with four level teaspoons baking powder.

  7. Add the beaten whites of five or six eggs.

  8. Bake in two large or three small layers.

Make the filling and finish

  1. For the filling, cream two tablespoons butter.

  2. Add one tablespoon lemon juice.

  3. Add four tablespoons cream.

  4. Add one teaspoon vanilla.

  5. Add enough confectioners' sugar to spread.

  6. Sprinkle with fresh shredded cocoanut.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

908Calories
28 gProtein
32 gFat
125 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Granulated sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps hold air when creamed with the butter.
Flour
Forms the cake's structure once the batter is baked.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the layers rise and lighten.
Eggs
Whites add structure and lift, helping the batter set and rise.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness to the batter.

The step that matters

Add the beaten egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that lightens the batter; overmixing after they go in deflates them, leaving dense layers instead of a light, risen cake.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, flour, cream, vanilla, egg):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, flour, cream, vanilla, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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